A week had passed since Rain and the others escaped Ohara.
The sea breeze was salty—and it was freedom.
The massive refugee ship sailed steadily through the West Blue.
The scholars' emotions had stabilized. Under Dr. Clover's organization, they didn't drown themselves in grief.
They were Ohara's "spark."
On deck, dozens of surviving scholars gathered of their own accord. They took out the ship's stored paper and pens and began reconstructing, from memory, the rare manuscripts that had burned inside the Tree of Knowledge.
The wind tugged at the pages, but it couldn't hide the soft scratch-scratch of writing.
They would rebuild the Tree of Knowledge with their own minds.
"Dereshishishi…" Saul sat at the bow, using his massive body as a windbreak, smiling warmly as he guarded the scholars at work.
Smoker stayed alone at the stern, chain-smoking cigars one after another.
He was irritated. As a Marine, he was now on the same ship as "enemies of the World Government," and there was even a former Marine vice admiral here.
That "traitor" position made his skin crawl—yet he didn't regret it. The contradiction was driving him half-mad.
On the other side of the deck, in the sunniest corner, Olvia—her condition stabilized—rested in a reclining chair by the rail with a blanket over her.
Nico Robin, the eight-year-old girl, no longer needed to hide behind anyone. She sat quietly beside her mother for the first time, holding an adventure journal Olvia had given her.
"Mom, is this the talking elephant you mentioned?"
"Yes… it was huge—like several mountains," Olvia's voice was still weak, but gentler than it had ever been. She stroked Robin's black hair. "Your mother and her companions walked on its back for a full week…"
"Then… did you really see the Mink Tribe? The drawing in the journal…" Robin pointed at a crude sketch, her little face full of curiosity.
"I did," Olvia smiled softly. "They weren't as scary as the stories say. Just shy—and they loved shiny things…"
Robin listened with wide eyes—eyes identical to her mother's—completely entranced.
Olvia smiled as she told Robin about six years of traveling the world, about strange incidents while chasing Poneglyphs and history.
This was the childhood Robin had missed for eight years—finally, truly hers.
Everyone else who passed by naturally softened their steps, careful not to disturb a mother and daughter who had already suffered too much.
Rain stayed alone in the captain's cabin, tallying the spoils from Ohara.
He opened the system panel.
In the quest list, "The Tree of Knowledge's Lament" was still gray: Incomplete.
"As expected," Rain thought. "If I'm 'sending the Buddha all the way west,' I probably need to fully settle them on Sky Island before this counts as done."
He wasn't anxious. Even without the quest, he would still do everything he could to save them.
Then his eyes moved to his Sin Points:
[Sin Points: 835,420]
"Thanks to Spandine and his CP agents… real 'charity in a snowstorm,' huh."
Rain opened the shop.
His gaze skipped past the clutter of minor items and landed on two upgrades listed side by side—each priced at one million:
[Skill · Top-Tier Swordsmanship → Peak Swordsmanship] (Cost: 1,000,000 Sin Points)
[Haki · Top-Tier Armament Haki → Peak Armament Haki] (Cost: 1,000,000 Sin Points)
Rain frowned slightly, genuinely torn.
He wanted both. But even if he'd never spent a point since getting the system, he still couldn't afford them both.
He sighed.
"Whatever. I don't even have a million yet—there's nothing to argue about."
He remembered the fight with Kuzan.
His attacks could injure Kuzan—real damage.
But the gap was obvious.
"That guy's physique is probably already Peak," Rain concluded. "If we fought to the death, odds are I wouldn't win… but if I wanted to leave, he wouldn't be able to stop me either."
Then another thought surfaced.
"If I want to get stronger, besides the system… there's another route: Devil Fruits."
"And speaking of Sky Island…"
"If history hasn't changed… that fruit that always ranks in the top ten of the whole verse—the Goro Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit)—probably hasn't been eaten by Enel yet."
Once the idea appeared, it refused to go away.
"If I can get that fruit… and combine it with Peak Armament or Peak swordsmanship…"
Rain practically wanted to fly straight to Sky Island and secure the fruit in his own hands just to feel safe.
Unfortunately, he couldn't.
He forcibly shoved the excitement down and decided to keep the plan to himself for now.
"One bite at a time. First—reach Sky Island."
Just then, commotion erupted on deck, yanking him out of his thoughts.
A News Coo had arrived. The scholars crowded around excitedly—they'd been isolated at sea for a full week and desperately needed outside information.
One scholar paid 50 Berries and bought a newspaper.
The moment he opened it—
"Th-this…" his hands began to shake.
"What is it?" Dr. Clover asked anxiously.
"Let me see…" Saul leaned in, curious. The instant his huge eyes landed on the front page, his trademark "Dereshishishi" froze solid.
"W-what is that?!" Saul's voice was full of shock and confusion.
Smoker also came over to see.
The instant he saw the headline, the two cigars in his mouth dropped onto the deck with a dull plop.
Hearing the fuss, Rain walked out of the cabin.
"What's all the noise?"
Smoker jerked his head up. With an expression as complicated as seeing a ghost, he stared straight at Rain.
Rain blinked. "You constipated?"
Smoker didn't answer.
All the scholars crowded in.
On the newspaper's front page was a freshly issued bounty poster, dominating the entire spread.
The photo showed a cold-faced young man against the backdrop of Ohara's towering flames and a cleaved ice river.
That face was unmistakably "Clark"—the glasses persona Rain had used in front of Kuzan.
Under the photo were three words and a number that made the blood run cold:
[Dead or Alive]
[Devil · Clark]
[Bounty: 500,000,000 Berries]
"T-ten… hundred… million… billion…"
"F-five hundred million?!"
"Berries?!!"
The scholars gasped in unison.
"What… what did he do?"
One scholar pointed at the small print and shouted:
"It says… this Clark… destroyed Ohara!!"
"What?!"
"Lies!!"
The scholars exploded in rage. "It was the Marines! The World Government!!"
Dr. Clover trembled as he took the paper. He saw the photo, then the lines beneath.
"'Devil Clark'… clashed with CP agents at Ohara… and…"
His voice shook.
"…and… defeated… Marine Vice Admiral Kuzan…"
Rain: (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)
"I… I only used the perfect disguise once."
"And now I'm just… a 500-million bounty criminal?!"
Nearby, Smoker stayed silent.
He stared at the bounty poster, eyes flicking back and forth between Rain's face and the photo.
Because he remembered clearly.
Three days ago, when he and Rosinante escorted the scholars to the port—at the moment Rain turned around, Smoker had seen Rain pull out an identical pair of glasses from his pocket.
~~~
Patreon.com/Weze_
— You can read more Chapters in my Patreon Page! please vote, comment, share this, or visit my Patreon Page and join the Free Membership!